My name is Larry Holt, and I am a metal sculptor based in Vancouver, Washington.

After a long career as a union pipefitter, I often found myself working at significant heights where I was never truly comfortable. I wasn’t paralyzed by fear, but I always felt the edge, and I showed up and did the work anyway. Those experiences now live at the heart of my sculptures. Each piece reflects the fears we all carry and the quiet confidence it takes to keep reaching higher in spite of them. My work becomes a personal self-portrait but exaggerated with whimsical characters.

My welded steel figures are most often long legged characters balanced precariously atop tall, narrow rocks. These figures perform daring, almost impossible stunts, flying a kite from a windswept peak, reaching skyward to grasp a crescent moon, or other quiet acts of courage. I deliberately leave their faces without expression, allowing the story to unfold entirely through posture, gesture, and the dramatic tension between figure and stone.
I have been married for 46 years. We are blessed with five children and many grandchildren. We live on a vibrant multi-generational family property that includes three homes: ours, our daughter’s house, and a third that serves as an active art collaborative, usually home to three resident art students. My studio occupies a converted milking room attached to our historic 1920s cathedral barn, right next door to my studio is daughter’s pottery studio. Having my daughter’s studio right next to mine, with just a door between us, creates a creative connection that warms the heart. On my side, the grinder roars and sparks fly; on hers, soft music drifts alongside the gentle hum of the potter’s wheel. It’s a wonderful contrast, yet we love sharing each other’s hearts as we create side by side.

Through steel and stone, I invite viewers to see themselves in these long-legged characters, to recognize their own private heights, quiet stunts, and moments of reaching beyond what feels safe. My sculptures transform personal history into a shared human story.